Two-time Oscar-winning actor Jane Fonda on Thursday revealed that she is a rape survivor and had been sexually abused as a child. “To show you the extent to which patriarchy takes a toll on females – I’ve been raped, I’ve been sexually abused as a child and I’ve been fired because I wouldn’t sleep with my boss,” she said in an interview to The Edit.

The 79-year-old actor also said that she always thought it was her fault. “That I didn’t do or say the right thing.” Fonda, who is a long-time women’s rights activist, said she knows many girls who are unaware that they’ve been sexually assaulted. “One of the great things the women’s movement has done is to make us realise that [rape and abuse is] not our fault. We were violated and it’s not right,” said the Grace and Frankie star.

Fonda said she was happy to see female stars now fighting for equal pay. “It [the pay gap] wasn’t considered an issue 40 years ago. I never got paid a huge amount of money. I never thought I was worth it,” she said. The veteran actor added that being a young actor is “terrifying” now because of female sexualisation. “There is even more emphasis on how you look,” she told the magazine.